5 INEXPENSIVE WAYS TO SPEED UP YOUR COMPUTER!!!

Many people today, even in this economy, consider computers to almost be disposable. Others however are compelled to get the most bang for their buck and try to get the most out of their investment. This is one of the most popular questions I am repeatedly asked about. If you are just price conscious, shopping / living on a budget, or just want to get a little bit more out of your computer before replacing it with one of today’s blazing fast machines. All computers slow down after a while, popups begin and programs move ever more slowly. Here are the top 5 things that you can do to speed your computer up. Some are even free.

1. Take the unnecessary programs out of startup. Every software company thinks they have the corner on their particular product and want it in your face constantly so at the time of installation you have an option to start the program in memory or not. Most people want to just install the program they downloaded or purchased and get busy using it, often times missing the option to either start or not start the program at boot time. Next reboot brings an incrementally slower boot time and overall resources are degraded with every new installed program that starts when the computer boots. You can see where this is going. If you don’t manage your boot environment you give up control of valuable resources. Here is how to recover those resources.
First click Start, then click run, in the run box type ‘msconfig’ without quotes and click ‘ok’. Once you do that you should see a new window pop up and have a number of tabs lining the top in a row. Towards the right end you should see the tab labled Startup. Click it. You may have a few or all of the selections checked and it is safe to remove them all or only the ones you want. Some like antivirus may be left there for security sake but can be safely removed. Then click Apply and then ok. At this point when you restart your computer you should notice a faster boot time and a revitalized performance.
2. Remove temporary files. Temporary files are there to serve a purpose but if you are not doing anything at the time then any temp file should be safe to remove. I use a program called CCleaner. It is powerful and simple. There are some advanced features in there that you should have guidance or KNOW what you are doing but the simple task of cleaning useless temp files is one click easy. www.ccleaner.com
3. Scan for spyware and virus’. These programs can bring any machine to a grinding halt performing all sorts of heinous activities on unsuspecting friends, family and other contacts. Most new computers and the refurbished computers usually come preinstalled with some sort of protection, ranging from free antivirus protection to paid internet security suites. None of the above is worth a dime if you don’t use it however. There is a shift in the way antivirus and other security products are being delivered (towards the cloud) and will be the preferred method in the very near future. For as little as $4 per computer per month you can be protected by enterprise grade security software. We have been very happy and successful with ours. Free versions of security software updates typically are delayed so that the paid subscribers get priority updates. You risk becoming infected using the free versions in other words. Security@twoeggtechs.com
4. Add RAM. This is the first step that requires laying down cash. Ram is pretty inexpensive for some of the newer generations of ram but just as with everything else as the demand for the older ram goes up so does the price. Supply and demand. What are you gonna do? You should be able to get some good speed though for about $50.00 on ebay.com or newegg.com
5. Upgrade your hard drive. Any good technician today can have a new hard drive in your computer and looking exactly like it did when you shut your computer off last time. A hard drive is the device that holds all of your data and system files. Using a process called imaging we (any good technician) have the ability to take a snapshot of your old hard drive and move it over to the new drive and have everything look exactly the same with no loss of data in just a couple hours. It is usually a good idea to complete steps 4 and 5 at the same time.


These are the best five ways to really get the most out of that old beast and can all be done usually for less than $200. There ARE other ways but by following these 5 tips you can keep your computer optimized and out of the repair shop.

This article submitted by Jason Johnson, owner of Omega Technologies, Jackson County Florida. Jason blogs at msp360.blogspot.com. He can be reached at jason@omegatechllc.com.